WAUSAU - Elected officials in Wausau may soon have to follow a code of conduct and face consequences if they violate it.

Mayor Robert Mielke and City Council members are working on a set of rules to govern their behavior. They talked Tuesday night about how to enforce those rules and still protect their free speech rights.

"We want to have spirited debate," said Council President Lisa Rasmussen. "We can’t control what we think about each other in the process. But what we think and how we act are different."

Mielke started work on the guidelines more than a year ago when he became City Council president and before he ran for mayor. Last winter Mielke, former Council member Keene Winters and former Mayor Jim Tipple were at the center of a controversial internal investigation into Winters' behavior.

Lisa Rasmussen(Photo: Contributed)

Former Human Resources Director Myla Hite, who conducted that investigation, resigned from the city after the related fallout. In the separation agreement with Hite, the city agreed to at least consider a policy on Council member behavior, Rasmussen said.

In November 2015 a city staff member reported that Winters swore at him and threatened his job. The city then investigated the complaint and the Council denounced Winters' alleged actions with him protesting all the while that his speech was protected and the city policies on behavior don't pertain to elected officials. Winters lost a bid for mayor in the spring and won a $97,000 settlement with the city in the summer.

City Council members debated Tuesday who would enforce the rules they're developing. Many feel the Ethics Board is best suited to it. But others questioned whether that panel is truly neutral because the mayor appoints the members and the Council approves those selections.

Tom Neal(Photo: Image courtesy of the city of Wausau)

"There’s always going to be an element of doubt and push back," said Council member Tom Neal.

The role of the Ethics Board is right in its name, Neal said. "That’s why they exist and hopefully that’s what they’re doing is focusing on ethics."

The Council can veto the mayor's appointments to the board, but Council member Gary Gisselman said that's not happened in his tenure.

"They may be friends. They may be working buddies," Gisselman said about potential conflicts for a board governing the behavior of Council members and the mayor. "I’m not sure who they are, but they may be compromised. Because the mayor that they are looking at may have appointed them."

Council members agreed that it would be tough to establish a board that everyone feels is perfectly fair.

They reviewed policies in place in Green Bay and Janesville and recommended changes to those city's policies for City Attorney Anne Jacobson to incorporate. A rough draft Code of Conduct includes sections on elected officials' conduct with other elected officials, city staff, the public and the media.

"Council members should treat all staff as professionals," states one provision.

"When communicating with the media, Council members should clearly differentiate between personal opinions and the official position of the city," states another.

Gary Gisselman(Photo: Contributed photo)

The rules could take the form of a conduct code, a city ordinance or both. Council members considered a draft ordinance that regulates their attendance, discourages "profane or unparliamentary language," prohibits release of confidential information and places fines from $100 to $500 for a first violation.

The council has not had a problem with attendance and doesn't need an enforcement mechanism for that, Gisselman said. Others agreed with him.

Jacobson will edit the draft ordinance change and the draft code of conduct, and the council will reconsider them.

"It's really up to your body how you want to govern yourselves, how you want to try yourselves, punish yourselves," Jacobson said.